In Tibet or Nepal you will often see many prayer flags fluttering in the wind, like a line of colourful washing. They are usually red, blue, yellow, white and green. These colours represent fire, sky, earth, air and water respectively.
In Tibet, the tradition of hanging flags began more than 2000 years ago. At that time the country was ruled by war lords who carried their banners into battles. The native people, however, made their own flags to honor the nature gods of Bon, their shamanistic religion. They hung the flags over mountain passes and rivers to benefit all who would pass underneath.
When Buddhism was introduced to Tibet in the 7th century, it brought the ideals of peace and compassion and within the next century Buddhism largely took the place of Bon, while absorbing many of its characteristics.
In the ensuing years, Tibet was ruled peacefully by a succession of spiritual leaders; the Dalai Lamas. Millions of men and women entered the thousands of monasteries to dedicate their lives to the practice of Buddhism, and the people of Tibet were devout, daily practitioners of this compassionate, loving religion.
All this came to an abrupt halt when the Chinese invaded Tibet in 1959. Since that invasion, Chinese soldiers have killed and tortured more than a million Tibetans, mostly monks and nuns, and destroyed six thousand monasteries. People around the world who had become acquainted with the Prayer Flags of Tibet were horrified to see the soldiers burning strings of these sacred flags.
Thousands of Tibetans, including the 14th Dalai Lama, have had to flee from their country and live in exile around the world to avoid being controlled or killed by the Chinese. Their Prayer Flags continue to represent the tradition of sending out prayers and good thoughts, but now they also remind us of a nation of gentle nation who have been robbed of their home.
Prayer flags are still stamped with prayers and hung to let the wind carry their messages in Tibetan refugee villages. Most of the Tibetan Prayer Flags we see today are made in those communities. And so, people around the world have adopted the custom of hanging Prayer Flags to commemorate special events and to transmit their blessings.
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